Gadget

Few products get the pre-hype associated with the Blackberry Storm - the first touch screen smartphone from Canada's RIM. The phone is similar to the iPhone in many ways and is designed to keep customers from defecting to the competing Apple device dubbed Jesus phone by some. In my humble estimation, there are millions of people in the US who would buy the iPhone if it worked on the Verizon network.

With the advent of the Storm, RIM and Verizon came together to offer what they hope is the equivalent of the iPhone but with the benefit of the Verizon Wireless network.

To determine how good this device is in the real world, I spent a good deal of time in a Verizon store and made camp near the single Blackberry Storm which the company had on display in the corner of the store in Fairfield County, Connecticut.

Big news out of China - it seems the world's second Android based phone will be from China and called the Zzzphone. A strike against the company is the name -- which virtually guarantees it will be listed last in any sort of alphabetical directory . On the bright side, it does have things going for it such as add-ons to support a full QWERTY keyboard, mini boom box, projector and more.

What is interesting is the thought that the Android OS and Google brand may be

strong enough to allow an army of companies to come out with Android phones.

Thanks to April Dunford's tweet for pointing out this entry on her blog pertaining to how to kill a killer product. One thing she leaves out and I have been meaning to mention for a while is -- in the consumer space -- the importance of naming a product effectively.

Look, I know the economy is slow. I know the consumer has less money than they did last year. I also know that service providers should be looking for new ways to get as much of the consumer's money as possible by providing value. This is why I am 100% behind the new T-Mobile cameo electronic photo frame which comes with its own phone number.

Gerry Purdy, a wireless expert and past speaker at TMC events put out an open letter yesterday detailing why wireless carriers should give away free service to people out of work. Some challenges with such a plan involve determining who is working. Is buying and selling on eBay defined as working? What about under the table work, etc?

While many in the country - including most likely George W. Bush are counting the days until there is a change in leadership, those in communications and tech are likely wondering what the future will bring. According to some experts such as Andrew D. Lipman of Bingham McCutchen LLP, VoIP will enjoy greater protections and mergers will no longer be rubber stamped -- meaning a better competitive environment from a regulatory standpoint.

Couple this with the idea of having a national CTO and you begin to realize there could be a massive shot in the arm for the tech sector next year. Specific areas to get the boost include wireless, broadband equipment and telepresence/video.